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When its cold outside or when our body and mind needs rejuvenation, this is our go-to lunch menu. A mere sniff at the hot rasam melts our cold away. Rasam, a watered down version of sambar, is synonymous to soup. Its much lighter, easier to prepare and easier to digest.

A typical Tamil meal consists of sambar, rasam, yogurt (homemade and plain), vegetables and rice. Sambar, rasam and curd, served in that order, are to be mixed with rice and eaten with vegetables. Rasam acts as a palate cleanser after the rich lentil and spice laden sambar, and before the cool curd rice. There are many versions of this rasam, also known as ‘mulligatawny soup’ or ‘milagu thanni soup’ (pepper water in Tamil). This is my mom’s version.

Garlic is optional, though not in my household. You can remove the garlic before serving, if you find it too strong. Curry leaves may be hard to find if you are not in India. But if you can, be sure to include it. Its flavour is unmatchable. Seasoning this rasam with ghee adds another layer of flavour. When I am down with a nasty cold, a tsp of indulgent ghee soothes my throat and soul. You can use oil, if you feel guilty.

Mix salt and tamarind paste in a cup of water and begin to boil along with smashed garlic cloves. Grind pepper, cumin seeds, toor dal, coriander seeds, red chilli and curry leaves to a diluted paste. Add this to the boiling tamarind water and boil until tamarind and other spices don’t smell raw. You will be left with a thick paste of tamarind and spices. To this add 3 cups of water and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let rasam heat through gently, but do not let it boil. When rasam foams on top, remove from heat and mix asafoetida. In a separate pan, heat oil or ghee, splutter mustard seeds and roast some more curry leaves and add to rasam. Serve hot as soup or with rice.

For most of us, potato is synonymous to comfort; be it fried, mashed or sautéed. This simple roast is quite often paired with pepper rasam in our house. Once you try this combination you will know why.

Sambar powder is a readily available spice mixture. It is my preferred choice of seasoning for any quick pan-fried vegetable. If you don’t have sambar powder, a combination of coriander powder, chilli powder and turmeric will do the job in most of the recipes.

Heat a tbsp of oil, splutter mustard seeds, and roast chana dal and urad dal until light brown. Add cubed potatoes, sambar powder (or combination of spice powders), salt and mix well. Cover and roast on a medium flame, by sprinkling water when necessary. When the potato cubes are cooked through, add another tbsp of oil and roast on a low flame. When they turn crispy, remove from heat. Serve with rasam and rice. This also goes well with rotis, puris, sambar and yogurt rice.

Meeta, this is my idea of comfort food and I am bringing this to your Monthly Mingle.

I use pinches of sambar powder here and there in some dishes besides sambar, but I didn't know that it is traditionally used in dry dishes too. I thought it was my own crazy indulgence, and would've been ashamed of telling that to a Tamilian. :-) Not any more.

Maya, I always make a double portion of the rasam. Some with rice and some as it is :).

ToM, Thank you.

Latha, your new domain looks fab. Have fun in your new web space :).

Nags, I do remember that post. Same recipes, different ingredients :)

Shilpa, Do try. You will be pleased.

Miri, I hear ya, gal ;). Garlic will always there.

Freeing cold Lucy? I thought it was summer there. But this is a keeper, summer or winter.

ET, I have always taken Sambar powder for granted. Until I noticed that not many of 'em know its versatility. What to say, I am a woman on a mission. Will try to post recipes (other than sambar, of course) with sambar powder.

The milagu rasam you have given here is the one I make 365 days a year :)...yes my hubby wants it everyday!and the potato kara kari..at least twice a week for my kiddos with curd rice :)This is our comfort combo too!!:)

Ashwini, Rice and dal is what we are growing apart. Wherever we go we always take a piece of home with us :).

Hannah, Potato goes very well with Indian spices. You should try once to see yourself.

Thanks Pooja.

Vimmi, My mom makes rasam powder, so I have never bought store-bought ones. But I know how stale they may taste.

Mansi, Mulligatawny is any form of pepper soup. This is one of 'em.

Thanks Madhu.

Manisha, Toor dal needn't be roasted. And its whole peppercorns. Grind, boil and enjoy. Thats how simple this rasam is. You once wrote 3 cloves of garlic was too much. Are you ready for some garlic punch? ;)

You got it right, Deepa.

Cynthia, Something this good and easy should be tried at least once. Let me know :).

Back to say that this was fabulous! I was glad Medha found it spicy cos that meant more for me! Bad bad me! I added a little bit of turmeric powder, too. Yum! I am going to be making this a lot. And I am breathing out garlic with every breath...

Wow - beautiful photos, lovely food but so different from what I am used to - I looked at your roast potato dish and know I need to try it sometime because it is so different from the plain roast potatoes I make but looks just as comforting!

Beautiful dish Suganya, great for cold winter day. It snowed here last weekend,I could use a bowl of that now!:))Great entries for both.Thanks for your e mail,I enabled the comment again today and hope I am strong enough now!:D

Manisha, I am so glad that I introduced to a South Indian classic. And you liked it too. Make it a li'l less spicy next time. Medha gotta enjoy too. Thanks for getting back to me :).

Am happy to participate, Sunita.

Me too, Rajitha :).

Minti, Thank you for the reminder. I totally forgot :).

I hope you like it, Musical.

Gattina, Thank you for your kind words. Hoping to see more of you here.

Susan, Ghee is a home remedy for sore throat and stomach ache. It works for me every single time. It lost its charm in the glare of the calorie counting.

Sure Mandira. Anytime :).

Johanna, Thank you for being kind. I cannot gulp down plain roasted potatoes. Gotta spice it up. Try Jamaican jerk seasoning over roasted potatoes. They are soooo good.

Asha, Glad to see you here. Lets see whether you keep up your resolutions ;)

Thanks Kusum and Nina. Welcome to Tasty Palettes.

Saffron, I am pleasantly surprised by your visit. I hope everything is fine at your end. Those compliments coming from you, means a lot to me. You are one of my inspirations. I hope you resume blogging soon.